The early stats are coming in, confirming that shoppers spent less during Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year than they did last year — but that doesn’t mean they’re not buying their holiday gifts this year.

Instead, many retailers have seen buyers race to get their shopping done ahead of the big holiday sales, so they wouldn't miss out if they waited too long. Supply chain challenges are still top of mind for many customers as they have seen the struggles of many retailers over the past 2 years with borders shut, manufacturers having to close doors or operate at lower capacity and courier services struggling to keep up with spikes in online shopping deliveries.

It was the first time Adobe saw a decrease on big shopping days since it first began reporting on eCommerce data in 2012.

• Online sales reached $US8.9 ($NZD13) billion on Black Friday, slightly below 2020 levels, according to data from Adobe Analytics. 
• Meanwhile, physical store traffic rose significantly from last year, but was still well below pre-pandemic levels.
• According to analysts, the mixed performance points to shifting consumer trends like buying earlier

November as a whole has been a good month, reporting an increase of 11.9% of overall spending. With that, buyers also spent most of their money elsewhere compared to 2020 which saw electronic sales soar. This year, the games and the event industry reaped the rewards as consumers started to enjoy their newfound freedoms after 2 years of tough restrictions in many places around the globe.

So how did Solutionists Top Clients stack up?

Looking at November 2021 compared to the previous year, our top clients are going strong with an average revenue increase of 18%. NZ clients have enjoyed an 11% increase, while AU clients made on average 21% more than November 2020. Despite the reports of results showing spending dropped off during the big sale days in November, Solutionists clients have seen steady growth over Black Friday and Cyber Monday in line with overall November revenue increases, with an average growth rate of 10% for NZ clients and 21% for AU clients. 

As we head into Christmas with boxing day and New Year sales just around the corner, it will be interesting to see if the trend continues. Experts say 2022 is already presenting some challenges for businesses to overcome. Supply chain issues, worker shortfalls and heightened levels of inflation will no doubt require new ways of thinking as everyone is slowly adjusting to the "new normal".